Maddox’s expression remained serious as he ate the bread, but I caught the very subtle twitch in his cheek.
“The café opens in a week, yes?” Quincy asked me before shoving more zucchini into his mouth.
Nerves tumbled into my gut at the reminder. “Yeah, on Friday.”
“Have you hired anyone to help you run it?”
“Yep. Two people,” I answered. “Peter and Alice. Neither have much cooking experience, so they’ll mainly be working part-time in the dining room taking orders. Depending on how the grand opening goes, I’ll assess whether I can afford to hire them full-time.”
“With cooking like this?” Callum pointed to his empty plate. “I have no doubts as to your future success. You’ll have a line out the door.”
“Kuya chopped those veggies,” the cat-boy said, then flipped around to me, a realization sparking in his rainbow eyes. “Kuya can work with Evan. Free cake as payment.”
It was certainly an idea… though perhaps not a good one.
Kuya would eat all of my inventory.
After dinner, I brought out the cookies, and it was game over. All of them swarmed the bar where I’d set the platter, and within a minute, only crumbs remained.
“Vultures,” I muttered before returning to the kitchen and frosting the cake. Booming laughter sounded from the dining room, and I smiled as I sliced strawberries to put on top.
Steps sounded behind me before strong arms encircled my waist. The scent of leather and spice reached my nose. “Thank you for the meal. The men enjoyed it.”
“I’m glad.” I relaxed against Maddox and turned my head to nuzzle his jaw. He hadn’t shaved that morning, so his light stubble tickled my cheek. “Bread thief.”
“I’m no thief. I won it fair and square.”
“Fair? Really?” I faced him. “Is that what they call it when you use your position to get what you want?”
Maddox released a rumbling chuckle, the stoic mask breaking away to reveal the playful male who too often hid beneath it. He smoothed his fingers along the curve of my neck as something tender touched his blue eyes. “I pray I’d be so fortunate as to have many more days like this one.”
I placed my hand over his. “Me too.”
The air stirred on my left side before I caught a blur of reddish-brown hair. Kuya grabbed the cake off the counter and scampered away with it.
“Hey!” I called after him. “You have to share that with the others!”
“It’s Kuya’s cake.” He grabbed a sliced strawberry from the top and purred as he licked off the frosting. “It has Kuya’s name on it. Evan said so.”
“That’s the last time I name something after you. Hand it over!”
“No!” Kuya took off running with it, giggling as he dashed from the kitchen at lightning speed.
Moments later, Callum’s voice rang out from the main dining area. “He has the cake! Get him, boys.”
“We can’t miss this,” Maddox said, amused.
Seeing grown-ass men chase Kuya around the café—who evaded them all with ease, grinning as he did—was the best thing I’d ever seen.
Duke dove toward him, and Kuya spun on his heels to dodge, causing the knight to crash to the floor with a frustratedoof. Baden and Quincy tried to trap Kuya behind the bar, taking a stance at both exit points, but Kuya crawled over the bar and jumped off the other side, somehow managing not to damage the cake in the process.
My stomach hurt from laughing so hard.
“Do something,” Callum said to Noah, as the other three knights tried to corral the cat-boy into a corner.
Noah stood against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “I’m unsure what you want me to do. Prince Sawyer’s orders were to keep Kuya safe and make sure he’s happy. And he looks awfully happy with that cake.”
Kuya ran past Noah, then stopped, spun back around, and handed him a strawberry. “A reward for Sir Noah’s loyalty.”
